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Governments are chronically underfunding the restoration of natural landscapes that can simultaneously tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, an international group of campaigners said Wednesday.

Study shows dramatic fall in baby coral numbers but also change in type of coral

The number of new corals on the Great Barrier Reef crashed by 89% after the climate change-induced mass bleaching of 2016 and 2017.

Scientists have measured how many adult corals survived along the length of the world’s largest reef system and how many new corals they produced in 2018 in the aftermath of severe heat stress and coral mortality.

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Clean Energy Australia snapshot shows investment in large-scale projects has doubled to $20bn

Despite Canberra remaining locked in ongoing partisan war about emissions reductions, and Malcolm Turnbull losing the prime ministership after a conflagration about energy policy, 2018 was a boom year for renewable energy, according to the latest Clean Energy Australia report.

The new assessment, to be released Thursday, finds the amount of renewable energy capacity committed in Australia during 2018 increased 260% on 2017, with 14.8 GW underway in 2018 compared to 5.6 GW in 2017.

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EU ETS reforms have strengthened the case for countries to ramp up their own climate action in capped sectors by greatly reducing the carbon price-damping effect of national policies, according to experts.

China has circulated a set of draft regulations for its national emissions trading scheme for public consultation, the first official ETS document to surface since the government delayed the programme indefinitely in Dec. 2017.

The US EPA’s push to develop rulemaking that declares biomass from managed forests as carbon neutral could run up against the recommendations of the agency’s own science panel, according to a recent review.

Christiana Figueres, who helped secure the Paris Climate Change Agreement, gives her suggestions.

New CO2 removal technology gains significant investment from fossil fuel companies, but greens have doubts.

A British Columbia-based company has shown that it can extract CO2 from the air in a cost-effective way.

Edinburgh Science faced protests from activists for taking money from oil firms

The charity running the Edinburgh international science festival is to ban sponsorship from oil companies including Shell and Total after protests by climate campaigners.

Edinburgh Science said on Wednesday it realised its commitment to educating people on climate change was substantially compromised by accepting money from fossil fuel companies.

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New material could replace plastic or glass in construction of energy-efficient homes

In an era of glass and steel construction, wood may seem old-school. But now researchers say they have given timber a makeover to produce a material that is not only sturdy, but also transparent and able to store and release heat.

The researchers say the material could be used in the construction of energy-efficient homes, and that they hope to develop a biodegradable version to increase its eco-friendly credentials as an alternative to plastic, glass or even cement.

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Around three times as many carbon allowances will be available in next week’s South Korean auction as in the previous sales, after the government announced Tuesday it has borrowed nearly half a million KAUs from the June volume to boost market supply.

The Galápagos Islands are supposedly one of the most pristine locations on the planet, but plastic pollution arriving by sea is threatening this unique habitat and wildlife. Leah Green travels to the islands to see how our reliance on plastic is affecting even the most remote of locations, and to see how the archipelago is hoping to lead the worldwide fight against plastic

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In world first, Sydney researchers observe lizard’s egg laying and live birth three weeks later from a single litter

Skinks may be much stranger than previously thought after researchers discovered a lizard that laid eggs and gave birth to live young in the one pregnancy.

Researchers at the University of Sydney observed a three-toed skink lay three eggs and weeks later give birth to a live baby.

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The extremely rare Chinese giant salamander was rescued after an attempt to smuggle it into the UK.

Restoration of forests and coasts can tackle ‘existential crises’ but is being overlooked

• Read the letter from campaigners

The restoration of natural forests and coasts can simultaneously tackle climate change and the annihilation of wildlife but is being worryingly overlooked, an international group of campaigners have said.

Animal populations have fallen by 60% since 1970, suggesting a sixth mass extinction of life on Earth is under way, and it is very likely that carbon dioxide will have to be removed from the atmosphere to avoid the worst impacts of global warming. Trees and plants suck carbon dioxide from the air as they grow and also provide vital habitat for animals.

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Climate and ecological crises can be tackled by restoring forests and other valuable ecosystems, say scientists and activists

The world faces two existential crises, developing with terrifying speed: climate breakdown and ecological breakdown. Neither is being addressed with the urgency needed to prevent our life-support systems from spiralling into collapse. We are writing to champion a thrilling but neglected approach to averting climate chaos while defending the living world: natural climate solutions. This means drawing carbon dioxide out of the air by protecting and restoring ecosystems.

Related: The natural world can help save us from climate catastrophe

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‘We owe it to our kids’: parents from 16 countries demand urgent climate action

Parents and grandparents around the world are mobilising in support of the youth strikes for climate movement that has swept the globe.

Under the banner Parents for the Future, 34 groups from 16 countries on four continents have issued an open letter. It demands urgent action to fight climate change and prevent temperatures rising by more than 1.5C, beyond which scientists say droughts, floods and heatwaves will get significantly worse.

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Gateshead, Tyne and Wear: This ancient, tenacious plant has already weathered three mass extinctions

Every April, rocket-shaped, yellow, nine-inch reproductive shoots of field horsetail (Equisetum arvense), tipped with small cones, erupt through this patch of waste ground beside Mill Road car park on the bank of the river Tyne. They’ll soon wither, after they’ve released their payload of spores. Then forests of green, corrugated stems and whorls of thread-like leaves, shaped like miniature Christmas trees, will rise from their creeping underground stems.

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Partnership on microgrid solutions that integrates digital technology and efficient hybrid power systems

The post ABB and Rolls-Royce announce global microgrids cooperation appeared first on RenewEconomy.